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End Of Life Care, Hospice and Your Money

Gabrielle Baldridge
Jane Blakelock
ENG 2100-30
Wright State University

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Abstract
The main point of this research is to really see how much money,
insurance, people or families spend for end of life care and how that
affects them. Some of these facts given provide what insurance is
willing to do, and sometimes what they arent willing to do. So getting
funds for Hospice is very important. Articles have shown that most
people do not make it to a care called hospice, they simply pass away
before this option is even offered to them.(Fine, 2013) Hospice, which
will be discussed in a more advanced form in further pages, is
beneficial at the end of life. It helps achieve peace, dignity, and honor
of a human life. And for the human life, this is much deserved.
Although having money and insurance, or lacking either one, can
change the perspective on how you want your last days to be life. So it
brings up the question, how far people willing to go, just to have the
best care at the end of their life? Does money matter to them? Or do
they simply just want to have that dignity and care that they deserve.

Main Body
Imagine for a minute, your loved one was just diagnosed with a
disease or they are simply falling into the category of the elderlybecause dying of old age is still a real thing. It becomes a tough
situation for you and them both. Sometimes things happen overnight,
while others take progression. Either way a loss of dignity comes for

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these people. First you tell them they no longer can drive, now youre
their one taking care of their finances like their a child again. Finances
are a huge aspect of health care. And in a sense, you get what you
pay for. But how far are people willing to go when it comes to making
someone the most comfortable, in their last days?
To start off, the most popular option for end of life care is
hospice. Hospice is attending to someones emotional and spiritual
needs. You make them as comfortable as possible in the last days of
their lives and give them a caring environment. Majority of people who
are Hospice patients, were given the news that they have less than six
months to live. There is a process to go through to transition to hospice
care. Your illness or disease has made it to where you cannot function
independently. You are dependent on a health care worker or family
member. When transitioned over you will receive medications that will
make you comfortable, but not ones that will cure you. You will be
taken care until your last living day providing you with peace, dignity,
and honor that your human life deserves. And with all of this, comes
time and money.
Things to be considered when thinking about money and
healthcare is the cost of medications, the cost of a hospital stay, a
nursing home, or even a home health care provider. A question that
was once asked was Why do we pay so much, just have someone stay
at a hospital for a week and pass on? Well because you love them

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right? Something to consider is that nearly 27% of Medicares annual
budget of $327 billion goes to care for patients in their final year of
life.(Nakhoda, 2010) In fact, more family members will go above and
beyond for their loved one. Sometimes people are unable to provide
that type of care at home for their loved one. So what is left? A nursing
home or hospital are considered the best places for this type of care.
Life expectancy is much higher in the United States because how great
health care facilities are taking care of the patients, but families often
find themselves at a point in life where they ask themselves what can
be done to achieve the greatest health care. And the answer to that is
more funding for Hospice care. This allows hospitals and healthcare
facilities to spend more money to get the correct amount of medical
equipment and drugs for the kind of care.
Medicare is one the biggest insurance agencies. One of its main
function is to pay for someones health care in their last stages of life
who use Hospice. In 2010, Medicare decided to spend $2.7 billion
dollars on Hospice care.(Nakhoda, 2010) You may think that is a lot of money and
it is. But if its evenly spread throughout the United States, it is not that much money. It
has been six years since Medicare has done this and more funding is needed to get
updated equipment and updated hospital beds, and much more. This is why it is important
to get this kind of funding.
The National Hospice Study did an examination on patients who lived at home
with minimal care verses patients who went into the hospital with the intention of

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receiving hospice care. They found that one-third of patients that were at the hospital,
were comfortable and able to pass at home peacefully.(Baily, 2011) Now for the other
two-thirds at the home, the study shows the patients found it difficult to tolerate the
emotional symptoms of passing away without the right Hospice care.(Baily, 2011) These
people were eventually rushed to the Emergency Department in their local city to receive
better care. If we added more funding to Hospice care, we could have Home Health
nurses who specialize in this type of care. They could provide this care to someone who
is unable to make it to the hospital and pass away. They are able to pass away at home,
comfortably and peacefully.
For the people choosing to stay in the hospital, the length of stay and medicine
used are the key elements(Jennings & Morrissey, 2011) when they arrive. Patients are
evaluated and sent up to the specialized floor. If we funded for more Hospice care, we
can use it in the hospitals, and the length of stay could be longer and less expensive in the
long run. Medicine will always be expensive. So funding for that just means we can have
medications to help people and more scientific trials to find possible cures. If we fund,
more research is able to be done.
When it comes to Hospice care, narcotics are called pain management aides. In
Hospice you are not curing someone, you are helping them tolerate the disease or
illness(Jennings & Morrissey, 2011) So providing that kind of care is obviously going to
cost money. This is a really good reason why we should fund for Hospice. If you do not
want your loved one to be in pain and suffer, then you get them the correct care.
Medicare should be willing to put out another lump of money for the updated equipment
and the correct amount of medications that a hospital would need for Hospice patients.

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Finally, when you realize how much medication you actually will need for these
patients, and the amount of equipment you need, and time and love, the cost becomes
overwhelming. If we fund for this, more money from Medicare and other health
insurance agencies could be given to you by them, to help pay for the patients needs. And
since there is not really a time limit on how long a patient can use Hospice, that bill can
really rack up. So it is important to have the right education on this subject to completely
understand why you need to fund for Hospice. Hospice is actually a huge part of peoples
lives, whether they chose to tell you or not. They could be struggling with the finances.
So we need to help fund Hospice to help those in need of this special type of care. Its
giving back to those who have given their life a go.

References:
1. Jennings, B., & Morrissey, M. B. (2011). Health Care Costs in End-of-Life and
Palliative Care: The Quest for Ethical Reform. Journal Of Social Work In EndOf-Life & Palliative Care, 7(4), 300-317. doi:10.1080/15524256.2011.623458
2. Nakhoda, Z. (2010). End-of-Life Care and the Medicare Hospice Benefit: The High
Cost of End-of-Life Care. Journal Of Financial Service Professionals, 64(2), 2428.
3. Baily, M. A. (2011). Futility, Autonomy, and Cost in End-of-Life Care. Journal Of
Law, Medicine & Ethics, 39(2), 172-182 11p. doi:10.1111/j.1748720X.2011.00586.x
4. Fine, P. (2013). Care at the end-of-life: one chance to get it right. Journal Of Pain &
Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy, 27(2), 110-111.
doi:10.3109/15360288.2013.788601
5. Spetz, J. (2012). Economic and Legal Issues in End-of-Life Care: An Interview with
Michael Ash and Stephen Arons. Nursing Economic$, 30(3), 136-139 4p
6. Aldridge, M. D., & Kelley, A. S. (2015). The Myth Regarding the High Cost of End-ofLife Care. American Journal Of Public Health, 105(12), 2411-2415 5p.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302889